News Article

Third Annual Johnny Cash Music Festival Announced For 2013

03/18/2013

Vince Gill, Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers, Jimmy Fortune of the Statler Brothers and Joanne Cash Yates will join show host Tommy Cash for the third annual Johnny Cash Music Festival, according to an announcement made today by concert producer and festival founder Bill Carter. The 2013 event is set for August 17 and will once again take place at Arkansas State University’s Convocation Center in Jonesboro, AR. Showtime is 7:00 pm and tickets will go on sale April 1.

As in year’s past, proceeds from this year’s event will fund the restoration of the Johnny Cash Boyhood Home in Dyess, Arkansas, as well as support a scholarship fund established in the international superstar’s name. Already, four young people are attending ASU thanks to the money raised at the previous events.

“We have been extremely happy not only with the progress on Johnny’s boyhood home, but also with the funding of this scholarship,” Carter said, “Johnny’s family made it clear from the start that giving children from his hometown area an opportunity to get a college education is something Johnny would have been very proud of. Likewise, the Dyess area will benefit from the economic boost we feel certain this museum will bring to the community. We’re grateful to the artists who are coming in this year to put on a great show for a great cause.”

The restoration of the home is well underway and according to Dr. Ruth Hawkins, director of Arkansas Heritage Sites, the museum is projected to open in the Spring of 2014. The goal is to establish the Johnny Cash Boyhood Home as a museum to honor the legacy of the Man in Black. Keeping the attraction in Cash’s hometown of Dyess will help boost the local economy. It is of interest to note another piece of historical data attached to the house. Cash’s family moved to Dyess and the 40 acres of land as part of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal.

“We have made great progress on the actual restoration of the house and are now working with members of the Cash family on acquiring the appropriate furnishings, which are being carefully researched,” Hawkins said. “Thanks to Joanne’s and Tommy’s great memories, it’s going to seem as if the Cash family has just stepped outside the door to head to church.”

Tickets for the Johnny Cash Music Festival will go on sale April 1st and are available at ASU’s Central Box Office and online at www.tickets.astate.edu. Tickets can also be purchased by logging onto the official website of the Johnny Cash Music Festival, www.johnnycashmusicfest.com. Call to purchase tickets toll-free at 1-888-278-3267.